(13) Esty Shushan: Choosing the feminism that's right for you
Description
Esty is a Chareidi Mizrachi social activist, entrepreneur and trailblazer. We met when she
was in London screening Woman of Valour, a documentary film about her life and activism,
and I was blown away by her bravery and her achievements.
In 2012, she launched No Voice, No Vote, a social media-based protest movement calling
on ultra orthodox Chareidi women not to vote for parties that barred women from their ranks,
and on the back of that she founded Nivcharot, which raises awareness on women’s rights in
Chareidi society. She’s a pioneer establishing all sorts of online forums promoting an honest
exchange of views on subjects like divorce, birth control, sexual harassment, abuse and
arranged marriages, all of which are to some extent still taboo in the Chareidi world.
Esty has a new podcast in Israel called Chareidit Meduberet (Spoken Chareidi) where she
interviews people who share this fresh approach and voice to discuss challenging issues in a
new, open way.
We speak about change management, using a pseudonym to write about politics as a
Chareidi woman, and shifting practises away from that, the potential dangers of the future of Israeli politics, how not to feed the monster of social media, and struggling with the F word -
feminism.
Click here to learn about Esty's film, Akara.
United States
